Champignóns pas Monsier, show us the money Ivan.

by & filed under Uncategorized.

Good morning all, before you read this, please understand it’s not a pop at the manager or the club, it’s more of a question to the board regarding our much talked about debt, so read on and ask yourselves the same question, I have only worked my figures out on what I have read over the years from Arsenal, I didn’t make this up.

ARE WE REALLY IN DEBT AND IF SO, HOW?

So in the Sunday Times Ivan Gazidas is being interviewed by Matthew Goodman and he talks about of our legendary debt, he says that £240 million is long term, taken out to finance the new stadium and the benefits of early repayment are open to debate. The remainder which is £120 million, was taken out to redevelop the old stadium and is due to be repaid next April but Arsenal are in talks with the banks about delaying it until the property market recovers.

THIS IS NOT AN OLD STORY GROVERS, IT’S BRAND NEW AND IT WAS IN YESTERDAYS NEWSPAPER.

Now this is what I meant by porkies told by Arsenal and the rate in which they keep changing their story, moving the goal posts is one thing, saying you have no goal posts is something else.

A few weeks ago our Ivan wrote a letter to shareholders explaining the myth of the debt and said that the Highbury Square deal was ringfenced and had nothing to do with the Football club. My, two weeks on and the story has changed.

When we first bought the stadium we did an upfront deal with Emirates of £100 million for 15 years of naming rights and a further £50 million for 8 years of shirt sponsorship, at the time as a marketing man I said it was a lousy deal, but as it was upfront and I understood they wanted to bring down the debt quickly. Which was £350 million, or so we were told at the time.

So that deal left a £200 million debt, which was more than covered by the Highbury Square development, Highbury Square they tell us will net us £240 million when it’s completed at the end of this year.

So onto the next porky, if you look at Arsenal’s advertising for the property project, it says 95% sold, if it is, why do we need to refinance it when the property market picks up, we already have the money? If that is, they told the truth when they advertised that 95% were sold.

Even without Highbury Square according to deals done we only owe £200 million and over the last 5 years we have spent nothing on players, won and received huge amounts in prize money, TV money and EPL money so really we should have no debt at all.

So where is it? Our stadium is named the Emirates and we have that on our shirts, so presumably they paid us, where has that money gone? As they still talk of re-financing the debt it suggests to me that nothing has been paid off as we still owe the same amount that we did when we first moved in.

OR AM I MISSING SOMETHING HERE?

Why do they continue to mislead us? Why is Gazidas treating us all like children that can’t add up, and why are we still in debt when we spend nothing on new players.

Please Arsenal explain, we asked for clarity and honesty a while back and the porkies continue, and on top of this you have trebled your income with gate money, not even mentioning the internationals, the pop concerts and the conferences.

There is something very un Arsenal about the way this board conduct themselves these days, notice how we never buy a player for anything other than an undisclosed fee, why? We rarely know what we sell a player for either, I mean what did Reyes cost and what did we sell him for?

One minute we have a lockdown and a united board the next Nina’s lobbed out, another minute PHW tells Kroenke we don’t need his kind, the next he’s the single largest shareholder, we call ourselves the Emirates stadium because we needed the money up front, then Gazidas tells the Sunday times we have  a debt of £360 million, still!

How? We started with a £400 million debt, got roughly £150 million up front from Emirates, make £3 million a game, get £30 million a year from the EPL, got £40+ million from the ECL plus the Carling cup, the FA cup, the Youth cup and television money, not to mention all the small sponsors and of course Nike.

AND WE GET A SIMILAR AMOUNT EVERY SEASON, WE’VE BEEN HERE WHAT, 3 SEASONS? DO THE MATH!!!

Where is it all? How have we still got a debt? How long will these excuses go on for? It’s Ok being told we have to be frugal as we have no money – ten minutes after being told we have to move to compete with the Mancs and the Chavs, but will someone at Arsenal please tell us when this will all end and we can start acting like a football club again, you know, buying quality players, like we used to, before project youth.

Stop keeping us in the dark and feeding us shit, we’re your fans not mushrooms.

810 Responses to “Champignóns pas Monsier, show us the money Ivan.”

Jump to comment form ↓

  1. A

    I dunno about now Pat – Arshavin and Nasri have come in so there’s no space for him anymore. The team was built around him, and he was ridiculously integral to us, but he left, and we had our period of transition and have moved on, we couldn’t go back to the system we used with Hleb now

  2. kirby

    oh nothing A just you cant have a debate with anyone on there. I thought you would be more capable of showing them up with your knowledge, because most of them believe our squad can do no wrong!

  3. Arindam@KOL

    My experience tells me different , A.

    They rate Ade quite highly. More than Eddy and RvP.
    Manc freind of mine was surprised when I told him RvP’s stats for the season.

  4. Pat

    A, Rosicky and Hleb are both miles better than Nasri if you ask me. Nasri is the disappearing type. He did it for L’OM and he disappeared too many times for us as well.

  5. A

    Arindam who rates ade over vp?! I’ve never spoken to a single person who thinks ade is better than vp?!

    Oh ok kirby, is that a blog then?? I don’t go on any other blogs other than here

  6. kirby

    even when you make a positive comment they call you doomers!

    it just gets to me that people can be so blinded and rude when they get found out dont worry about it, i’m just hot and bothered.

  7. Pat

    RVP is the one player United fans would like from Arsenal, if they could choose, according to most of them/

  8. Arindam@KOL

    Now that you guys dug up some old memeories – I rated the twat. I really did.

    If he had a shot on him , he would have been in the top 3/5 players in the world. Just like Iniesta is now.

    ANd yes , I absolutely loved and adored his fluid style. BUT , he turned out to be a twat.

  9. leon

    pat

    sorry hleb for a wenger was very poore and inmy opinion very much luxury player at hi stime at the club he had very little assists and scored evon less,nasri already has proven to be alot more effective not better just more suited to the prem,nasri has proven that can play anywere in midfield and workd alot harder, as for risicky i have alwyas thought risicky was alot better than hleb,risicky only problem is his fitness he will score 10 goals aseason easily and a ton of assists

  10. SUGA3

    I think Hleb was properly replaced only when AA23 came, bringing Hleb’s ability and much, much more…

    Hleb used to terrorise fullbacks with his pace and dribbling skills, usually a CB or a midfielder tried to help out leaving space for Cesc & Co.

  11. choy

    nasri scores goals.. i think more than hleb did in all his career at arse … in his first season.. i would take him over hleb any day of the week

  12. A

    Yeah I agree with that Pat, but it’s only because he’s still adapting – Hleb went missing all the time in his first season as well. Arshavin is better than Hleb, so there’s no way we’d build the team around Hleb again, and Hleb only really works when the team is built to his strengths, as shown by his horrific season at barca!

    Nasri has had a superb season imo, considering his age, and it being his first season in the prem, i wouldn’t say he’s now at a level below Hleb and Pires were when they first arrived and had difficulties adapting early on

  13. Mayank

    Yawn.. So did we sign Benzema yet? Anyway i was thinking that if we do replace Ade with a top striker how will be line up will some of the players accept being benched w/o Ade i imagine us lining up like
    Al -fab
    Sagna-Verm-Gallas-Gael – Song,djouruou,eboue(?),gibbs
    Rosicky-Fab-DM-Arsh – nasri, walcott, vela, deilson
    RvP-Dudu – Nick, vela, walcott

  14. SUGA3

    there’s obviously a bit of silver lining to Hleb leaving us: had he stayed we would MAYBE have bought Nasri as his understudy, but not Arsha…

  15. leon

    a

    with aa,nasri,risicky means there is nowere for hleb who was very ineffective at the club he played 1 game and did nothing next 3 games and that same whole 3 years ,in season aa has completly elepts anthing he did in 3 years and at barc were is he nowere

  16. A

    disagree completely leon, i don’t want hleb back, but he was far from ineffective, he almost won us the league last season, and although individually arshavin is a better player, and will be amazing next year, he still isn’t as involved as much or running things as much as hleb did, he was massively underrated by alot of fans and the british press imo, which is shown by the fact the best team in europe wanted to sign him

  17. Truth

    Germany has just scored, they look much sharper than us at the moment. Walcott is playing out on the left and seems to be running into blind alleys.

  18. A

    not toooooo badly choy, lively but hasn’t had anything come from his runs, could make something happen though. Milner should have been booked for that dive, though it was lovely footwork before

  19. A

    Milner’s obviously been learning from Ashley Young, Agbonlahor, and Heskey. I wonder if Martin O’Neil actually teaches players to dive

  20. Pat

    A, BBC actually rated Hleb a lot. From the match analysis(s) I watched, they were always raving about him.

    I absolutely hate people who go by stats. if you watch football and know football, you know who is good and who isn’t. Stats don’t mean shit.

  21. A

    actually that could be true pat, i remember them going on about him having a 100% pass completion rate against villa, but overall the opinion of him in england certainly amongst fans seemed to underrate him massively imo

  22. Pat

    Germany wer absolutely dominated by Italy as well. Good thing for England is that they don’t have to play Italy. I think they’d get a thumping. England don’t have anyone of Giovinco’s or Balotelli’s level. Walcott isn’t even close.

  23. leon

    xees

    another very gifted player but very imature he was very inconistant at times tons of ability but has tossed all away i dont evon which club plays for now

  24. A

    athletico madrid leon, was on loan at benfica this season, but they don’t want to sign him permanently, and athletico don’t want him back so no idea where he’ll go!

  25. Paulinho

    I remember going on a Villa forum a couple of weeks ago, when they were linked to Hleb, and they were nearly creaming themselves at the thought of him going there. Coming out with stuff like “Barry who?”.

    That masterclass he put on at Villa Park is obviously still fresh in their minds.

  26. leon

    a

    hleb has ability but had only 1 good seas on but he was not willing to put foot in and for someone who has so little assists he needed to put shift in for the team and have more assists and that did happen often for him

  27. A

    I disagree leon, he actually had a very good work rate, people just didn’t mention it. Hleb if we hadn’t lost Rosicky and Eduardo and therefore won the league last season should have gotten pfa player of the year imo, alot of ifs there though! I still think he should have been shortlisted ahead of Cesc

  28. Paulinho

    I would still take him back for those games at Old Trafford and Anfield. His ball retention and dribbling was priceless there.

    The team we have at the moment gets dispossessed too easily when pressed.

  29. SUGA3

    Germany seem to have better idea how to play: pass, pass, pass, bang…

    England seem to be pussyfooting around and get bullied back to their half a lot – now where have I seen that before?

    it’s pretty much how todays XI would look in the game vs The Invincibles in their prime…

    and yes, Richards is having a shocking game so far – nowhere to be seen when the first goal went in and leaves tons of space…

    fuckin’ hell, some tackle by Gibbs…

  30. A

    True Paulinho, but I still wouldn’t have him back. With Rosicky, Cesc, Arshavin, VP, Eduardo and Bendy we won’t have those problems

  31. Pat

    leon, stop bringing up assists. There would be no assists for players like cesc if it wasn’t for Hleb. Hleb was much better than Cesc that season. Damn it I hate stats people. Do you not know the game of football? No you really not see what he brought to this team?

    I can’t wait to see Rosicky in action!

  32. leon

    pat

    he was a winger so thats pretty important and taking shots on goal is pretty important too,did he play better than cesc i dought it but cesc is 21 20 at the time hleb 27-28 for me if your playing for top 4 team a winger should be scoring at least 6 goals a saeson and at least assistants to score he did not do that enough he was winger or attacking midfielder

  33. xeeez

    yea opinions on hleb are surely divided..even though he didn’t score many and event didn’t get a lotta assits, but his ball retention and possession was something we could use..we used to kill teams off with possession and for that he was really important..and he could use both his feet to open up defenses with his “pre-assists” :) ..

  34. choy

    i think we lost at OT and lost one at anfield and drew the other one…

    lets think about it this way…

    the opposition let hleb have the ball .. coz they knew he wouldn’t shoot!!!

  35. Paulinho

    Nah Choy, let’s think about this way (the way it actually happened)

    The opposition tried to get the ball off him, failed, and left space for others to run into. When Hleb passed to them, they exploited the space.

    Without him there, there is no space to exploit.

  36. Pat

    Choy, Hleb v. United:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEtaNKo0E6U

    Hleb alone could have gotten us 5 more pts. in the last few games of the season. Against Wigan at the JJB, 1st minute, sent Ade clean through and he missed. Tied that game 0-0.
    Against United, sent Ade through again when it was 0-0, Ade missed.

    Against LPool: He did something that no other player than Messi could when he dribbled past 4-5 players and we were denied a clear-cut penalty.

    Nasri is shit compared to him when comparing overall value to the team.

  37. RayGooner

    England has no offensive threat whatsoever…
    England’s lack of real strikers is a real problem through out the whole national system, from U21 to the senior team…

  38. choy

    i like the optimism paulinho…

    fact is when the going got tough he chickened out..

    he was technically very gifted, but didn’t do anything with it.

  39. A

    Ray imo it’s the complete and utter lack of any technical ability or creativity in midfield. Pearce plays with essentially 3 defensive mids, it’s ridiculous. At this level theo can be amazing, and frazer campbell and agbonlahor are also very useful at this level if there’s any service at all. Cattermole/Noble/Muamba/Gardner lack any sort of passing ability whatsoever

  40. Pat

    Choy, then you obviously didn’t watch him close enough. He was our best midfielder that season, closely followed by Rosicky and Flamini

  41. RayGooner

    After Lineker, Shearer and Owen, what have england produced in real goalscoring players?
    And don’t say Rooney, he’s not an out and out goalscorer like the 3 mentioned above…

  42. A

    choy when the going got tough he was amazing, liverpool in the league in the last minute, and in the champions league, and against utd etc etc. Hleb was our best midfielder and most important individual player last season by some distance imo

  43. Paulinho

    But he did Choy

    Many players in the current Arsenal side are very happy to drop off the midfield and receive the ball when there is NO ONE around them to pressure them, like Nasri, like Denilson, even Cesc as well.

    Not many players had the balls and ability to ask for the ball when surrounded by two or more players high up the pitch. That’s the difference – it’s not just what he did it is the context in which he did it, the situation.

    That’s why to say he lacked balls is a myth. To keep asking and then commanding the ball at arenas like Old Trafford and Anfield took guts as well as unique ability.

  44. Pat

    Maybe Rooney can be when played in the correct position. He has 10 goals in 7 games for England right now

  45. ManGoonian

    Are we getin all misty eyed and nostlagic about efdfin Hleb again???

    Jeeez, he’s gone, was a frustrating mutha fucker, with great close control, had a blindin 6 month spell in 3 seasons…

    Nasri? A fan-fuckin=tastic team player who is a lokkle dynamo…. Sure knock one over your dream boat Hleb, but dont do it while slating Nasri, FFS.

    No offence!

  46. Pat

    Nasri is not starting XI material yet. Arshavin and Rosicky are better.

    I wouldn’t mind getting rid of Theo if we get paid good money for a typical overhyped englishmen. His progress has been in a 2 year stall. He has learned nothing

  47. RayGooner

    Spain has Torres & Villa
    France has Henry & Anelka
    Germany has Klose & Podolski
    Sweden has Ibrahimovic & Larsson
    Holland has van Nistelrooy & Huntelaar
    Italy has Toni & Acquafresca

    Who do England have?
    Rooney (like i said not a real out and out goalscorer)
    Walcott (not there yet, maybe he’ll get there…)
    Heskey (you gotta be kidding me)
    Crouch (yeah right)
    Agbonlahor (i have my doubts…)
    Defoe (must i go on…)

  48. A

    disagree totally pat, he’s certainly starting X1 material, though not building the team round him material, and not as good as arshavin or rosicky, but still a very good player in his own right

  49. SUGA3

    thing is Pat that what worked with TH14 does not necessarily have to work with TW14 – apart from a few good runs ending in quality LOW crosses he had little effect…

    should have played him on the left to develop his shooting rather than crossing, IMO…

  50. A

    toni and aquafresca ray?! one who’s 32 and scored 16 international goals, whereas rooney doesn’t count despite scoring 24 goals at the age of 23?! and aquafresca who hasn’t yet made his debut?!

    we’ve got one world class forward in rooney, and after that we don’t have much, a few players the level below, the likes of defoe and crouch.

    Spain, Argentina and Brazil have massive strength in depth in terms of their forwards, they’re the only three countries who are that far ahead of us though, along with maybe France.

  51. RayGooner

    It’s not how many goals you score, it’s who you score against and in which competition…
    How many goals has Rooney scored in the World cup or European championships?

  52. Pat

    Portugal have no good forwards.

    Dutch have great offensive players playing around Huntelaar, so thats just as good as having world class forwards.

  53. Mayank

    Something completely off topic, how many here cringe on seeing ‘could of’ etc. being used freely on the net by native speakers without it being considered wrong. Is it just me?

  54. Pat

    Overall, I though Italy were the best team. They were really, really unlucky against the Germans, who they absolutely dominated. Hit the post twice, cleared of the line three times.

    England are lucky they avoided Italy

  55. Samir

    Portugal play a 4-3-3.

    Queresma–Ronaldo–Nani

    They also have Hugo Almeida and Simão who are both pretty good imo.

    4-0 BTW

  56. RayGooner

    so what you’re saying Pat is that would they have met Italy it would have been worse than this…(4-0)…lol

  57. A

    He’s only really played in one properly Ray and he scored 4! 2006 world cup he was playing fucked, and we didn’t qualify for 2008! Compared to the likes of Toni he’s far better, it’s just that he’s world class so he’s able to play in other positions, but is still quality as an international forward. I do agree though we don’t have the equivalent of say pazzini in italy, who i’d compare to someone like kevin phillips.

    We don’t have the non-world class but prolific domestically forwards we used to and other countries have, but Rooney is world class so we have one world class forward, Spain have 2 world class forwards, Italy currently none, France i’d say none because Henry is good but no longer world class, and Benzema isn’t world class just yet, Portugal have none, Germany have none, Brazil and Argentina have a fair few though

  58. Pat

    Walcott may as well have stayed at home growing his goatee.

    He better not be paid more than 50k a week. He shouldn’t even be paid as much as Song.

    I’m sick of waiting for Theo to improve. Song, Denilson both improved. Theo and Diaby, nothing. 1 more season. If he doesn’t improve, get rid of him.

  59. RayGooner

    Overall Sweden were the best team, Italy were lucky against Sweden when they won 2-1, England were lucky against Sweden…
    Sweden was the only team that really wanted to play offensive football!

  60. A

    I wouldn’t say ronaldo is world class at international level, in a utd team built round him he was, but he doesn’t have an amazing goalscoring record internationally. Nani is an embarrassment, and quaresma is just tricky with no end product

  61. redbearer

    I blame Capello for not turning up by missing his flight… the silly bugger! What a tonking we have been given by the Germans tonight!! Not so clever now eh Pearce!

  62. Maciek

    Hi! Mayank, spot on. I have noticed it as well, but decided to shut up, since my English still needs improving.

  63. A

    Pat theo improved alot this season, he was never going to be good in this shocking u21 team, because he makes clever runs, and there’s not a single player on the same wavelength or capable of picking him out. He got 8 goals this season, his movement and final ball have improved greatly, although obviously not the finished product yet he’s come on leaps and bounds. Diaby has gone backwards though

  64. RayGooner

    I can’t say you’re right about Rooney Pat, cause he’s a Man U player, and i wouldn’t mention a Man U player as a world class player on Le Grove, it’s not proper…

  65. Mayank

    Maciek, I’ve come to realise that’s its a British English phenomenon. I stayed shut on it ’cause i’m prone to spelling mistakes and didn’t want a ‘could of’ user on my back LOL.

  66. RayGooner

    Italy had Balotelli sent off after 30 minutes, (after he’d already scored their first goal)…
    All i said was that Italy was lucky to hold on to their 2-0 lead…

  67. Mayank

    Ray it depends on who you call world class, somehow calling Ronaldo the best is okay but saying roy keane is right is not. For me its quite the opposite.

  68. RayGooner

    I think that Özil in Germany is a really creative player, good skills, great vision and if he starts to score more he will be world class!!!

  69. Maciek

    Hello SUGA3. Jak się masz?How are You? Are You pleased with our transfer? Do You think that we do need another one, or more?Potrzebujemy jeszcze wzmocnień?

  70. RayGooner

    Let me explain about Rooney…
    He’s a Man United Player so i will never admit to him as being world class, (just cause of that)!

  71. SUGA3

    I am not a native English speaker, but these ‘could of’ and ‘should of’, etc. do make me cringe indeed ;-)

    but whatever – there was an idea to introduce text message style spelling to schools, nothing comes as a surprise…

  72. Stu

    Yes Mayank but no matter what we say people just have a habit of it and we all know its hard to break a habit.

    A, Balotelli looked like a brat there.

  73. RayGooner

    What you mean cheating, Balotelli made a late kick at the swede, of course he made it look worse than it was but we all know everybody does…

  74. SUGA3

    Maciek, I do believe that we have some serious reshuffling to do – still think that Diaby, Ade and Silvestre should be goners and some 3 further players brought in: Cana, Tasci and a striker (please, not Chamakh)…

  75. A

    Yeah balotelli is a complete idiot, loses his head all the time. No Ray not everybody does, cheats do, though there are far far too many cheats in football it doesn’t make it right and doesn’t mean that everyone is a cheat

  76. Maciek

    Guys. Is there any quality player in English squad(aside frrom Theo, Gibbs and Hart)?And yeas this question include the spuds players.LOL.

  77. Stu

    Ade, Diaby, Silvestre out.
    Pogrebnyak/Janko/nobody, Denisov, Juhasz in.

    That would probably be a surplus. More money in that out.

  78. Stu

    I dont think Tasco would move now, especially with the WC coming up He needs first team football and we cant offer him enough of that.

  79. Mayank

    SUGA3 don’t mean to butt in but i really think that if we buy too many new players we’l be building a team indefinitely. The players will take time to bed in casting us silverware next season which will cause at least one of our established stars leaving. I think if we just get a CM that’ll do. Even with Ade leaving i think we’re okay but i’d like a replacement.

  80. Maciek

    yes SUGA. I feel the same. Cana, another cd( Zapata or Juhasz from Anderlecht, or another nig, strong, tall defender) and a winger. If Ade goes, then give more chances to Nick B. Eddie and RVP can score 20 plus goals each one.

  81. ManGoonian

    Im sick and tired of waiting to re4ad something, witty, or insightful or vaguely interesting… Thats it, one more year, then we get rid of Pat!

    Joke!

  82. SharkeySure

    Maciek, trust me, 90% of people here in London will not see the difference between your first post and your correction

  83. SUGA3

    fair point, no striker purchase is required, unless it is Benzema – I know, I know ;-)

    there was a debate here on who would be better Melo or Cana – still Cana for me, we need a nutter, Melo is just too mellow, lol…

  84. ManGoonian

    I think the full England team have a fucking great chance next year, obviously that is of no consequence to most on here… But, I said it, nonetheless… Capello is a superb coach and has shown this with England already, IMO…

  85. Maciek

    Stu, is Denisov defensive mided? Also, who is this Janko fella. Even I don’t know him. As for Juhasz-he is CLASS!

  86. Maciek

    Thanks Sharkey. I have improved but still make some stupid mistakes. I know that You British people( especially English)care a lot about you language. Also I really love the cockney accent. Mine reminds me only the first four letters.LOL.

  87. SharkeySure

    Maank it must be well past your bedtime.

    You should of looked at the two posts Maciek made at 21.30 and 21.31.

    If you’d of done that then you wouldn’t of earnt yourself a yellow.

    Full apology in perfect Anglaise por favor..??

  88. SharkeySure

    Maciank?? 4 letters…?? Que amigo….

    People who teach you English, understand it and care about it, native speakers are never taught it, they just pick it up from whoever’s nearest.

    Is it the same where you guys are…?

  89. Maciek

    LOL. Mayank. I have noticed it too. I really think that our “stage names-LOL” don’t look very similar but I have been proved wrong.

  90. Stu

    Maciek, well as far as i know he is fairly defensive. He plays CM for Russia anyway so he must be decent at it.

    Marc Janko – 25 years old. 6’5”, left footed. Striker for Red Bull Salzburg and was amazing last season. Click my name for a clip.

Leave a Reply

    Fill in your details below or sign in here:

    Connect with Facebook

  • (will not be published)

First time commenters will go into moderation.


Jump to top ↑

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title="" rel=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>